The Interdependence of Personal Development

When I taught at a nature park during high school, one of the big buzz words was interdependence. This relatively easy to deconstruct word means that everything is dependent on everything else in a system. We often referred to a food chain as interdependent, since the dying out or abundance of one level in the chain led to changes for all the other organisms.

Why is personal development interdependent? Well, I’ll tell you!

If you study personal development and you find you aren’t getting very far, you need to look to the other parts of your life. Do you work in a dead-end job that you hate? If you do, chances are you count down the hours, minutes, and seconds until you’re out of that hell hole. Perhaps you are in a relationship that goes through periodic problems. You may have some weight troubles that you attack with occasional diets but never seem to get anywhere. Let me ask you this…how many overweight, domestic-problem ridden people are there who are unhappy 40 hours a week that become successful writers, actors, etc?

If you want to be great at something in your life, you need to try to be great at everything. It doesn’t necessarily have to be all at once. When I worked for Starbucks I used to hate getting up in the morning, making prep for frappucinos, and cleaning the hard-to-reach-areas of the store. I was acting and writing on the side but not getting very far. I decided to revamp each part of my life and that included work. I started finding ways to enjoy every task and to enjoy the things I already liked even more. I worked harder, joked harder, and tried to become the fastest drink-maker there. Not surprisingly, other things began to change in my life.

I started exercising more frequently and getting in better shape. My relationship had been going through some problems which miraculously seemed to disappear. I also started moving forward on some big acting and writing projects at the time.

Lately, I’d crept into a bit of a motivation rut. I noticed that the thing that was dragging me down the most was an increase of weight. I attacked my weight hardcore, dropping to my healthiest weight in almost two years. Suddenly, my income began to grow and I began to get offers for projects that seemingly came out of nowhere. I don’t know exactly how it’s all connected but it is and you get to reap the benefits.

If you find yourself dragging in one area, overhaul the whole system. Take on something that you can fix. A few options: cleaning your house, losing weight/getting in shape, creating a stronger routine, getting organized, becoming a better son, brother, daughter, sister, or cousin, treating strangers with more respect, and trying to make some passive income on the side. If you can improve in one area, chances are it will begin to affect them all. Take action and let me know how it goes :).